No fishing license, no $900,000

Published online: Jun 22, 2010News

ailure to pay a few bucks for a fishing license has cost some tournament winners in North Carolina more than $900,000.

A one-year fishing license for North Carolina residents costs $15. For out-of-staters, it's $30. And because an angler in the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament didn't have a license, it cost the winning boat $912,825 in prize money.

"It hurts," Andy Thomossan, whose boat, Citation, caught an 883-pound blue marlin, told USA Today. "We didn't do anything wrong. But one of our people did. He failed to get a fishing license, but we didn't know it. He told us he had it. He didn't. So you take a man for his word, you know?"

Under tournament rules, anyone fishing aboard a vessel must have a North Carolina fishing license, including the captain, mate and anglers.